


summer heat, boy and girl meet

by WritingToKeepMySanity



Series: beach town au [1]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beach, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Because I can, F/M, Ice Cream Parlors, Meet-Cute, Summer Romance, and genderbent!Crutchie, some language, strong at times but not often, tourist!Kath, townie!Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-19 07:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18133031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity
Summary: Honestly, it was the oldest cliche in the book. Local boy, out-of-town girl, with only the summer together? It was straight out of a musical.Only this story would actually end with the summer. No surprise reunions after school started again in the fall, just these twelve weeks of riding in his truck, winning tickets at the arcade, ice cream dates where they tried to outdo each other in worst combination, and trying desperately not to fall in love with the local boy.





	summer heat, boy and girl meet

**Author's Note:**

> this is a long one, folks, I suggest if you're choosing to read in one sitting, gather water and snacks _now_ or take a break at every ~*~ to stretch or whatever because this really got away from me ;)

Honestly, Katherine hadn’t been crazy about the ‘beach house getaway’ idea.

If she was even more honest, she couldn’t believe her father had been the one to mention it to her, though she was almost certain it had been her mother’s idea. In all seventeen years of her life, Katherine had never seen her father take an actual ‘family’ vacation.

(Because in her father’s world, vacations were about showing off how much money one could spend while having the least amount of fun) 

Regular-sized beach house in a tiny beach town she’d never heard of before? For the _whole_  summer? 

Had to be Mom’s idea.

She might not have minded so much if Lucy were there, too. If nothing else, her sister was always a great buffer between Katherine and their father. But there was no Lucy. Just Katherine, her mother, her father, and the growing tension between the three of them.

Sighing, Katherine leaned her head against the window of the rented car as they pulled into the town. Shops with peeling paint blurred together in front of her eyes, bleeding into the too-bright sunshine.

She squinted, about to turn back to the book in her lap when a blur of chipped, rusted blue paint sped past them. Katherine straightened, craning her neck to get a better look at the old pick-up truck as they slowed to a stop next it.

“Damn teenagers,” she heard her father mutter under his breath, but she was too busy peering curiously out her window, hoping she didn’t appear too much like she was staring.

There were four or five boys in the bed of the truck, throwing things at each other and shoving each other good-naturedly. Her eyes slid from the bed to the front of the truck, where two people sat, the driver drumming his hands on the wheel.

Katherine was studying the decals stuck in the windows and the lanyard hanging over the rearview mirror so closely—she couldn’t help it, she was curious by nature—that she almost didn’t notice when the driver turned his head and caught her gaze.

He couldn’t be much older than her, with dark hair and light eyes she couldn’t quite figure out the color of and a broad, crooked smile, and—

 _Oh_ , shit, he was grinning at her, shooting her a wink.

Flushing bright red, Katherine dropped her eyes back to her lap, wishing she could melt into the backseat as the light finally changed and they drove away.

 

~*~

 

 _“Go out and explore, Katherine!”_ her mother had insisted. _“Meet the locals, you can’t stay cooped up inside, reading all day. Go have fun!”_

Well, Mom hadn’t said she couldn’t take her book to the beach, so Katherine shoved her book, sunglasses, a towel, and sunblock—she spent _maybe_  fifteen minutes outside yesterday, not even in direct sunlight, and, already, her shoulders were pink—in a bag, wrangled a beach umbrella, and found her way to the beach, finding a relatively quiet spot and setting up camp.

Annabeth had barely made it across the chasm with her rope bridge, however, when a soccer ball came to a rolling stop by her elbow. 

Before she could look up, a small voice was already saying, “Sorry, sorry! I got it!”

Pushing her sunglasses on top of her head, Katherine held the spot in her book with a finger and looked up to see a young boy, stooping to pick up the ball. “You’re fine,” she reassured with a smile. “Barely scratched me.”

The boy finally met her eyes, freezing at her voice, looking at her like a deer in the headlights—she assumed anyways, since she’d never actually seen a deer. 

He held her gaze for a long beat and she was starting to wonder if she needed to check his pulse or something when he broke into a semi-cocky grin and said, in a semi-suave voice, “Well, hello, hello, hello, beautiful.”

Katherine was torn between shock and amusement—because, honestly, this kid couldn’t be more than thirteen, all gangly limbs and cracking voice—and was deciding which to act on when someone came up behind him and shoved his shoulder.

“Ya outta ya league, Romeo. Go on, go bug Davey or somethin’.” Romeo looked up at the speaker with an embarrassed, petulant look before turning and running off with the soccer ball.

Craning her neck to peek around the edge of the umbrella, Katherine barely registered a pair of bright blue swim trunks before the speaker was crouching to talk to her.

“Sorry ‘bout him. Damn teenagers, don’t know nothin’.” He finally looked her in the eyes and gave her an appreciative look. “Though he mighta been onto somethin’ here.”

Still whirling from the whole exchange, Katherine said the first thing she could think of: “Oh my god, you’re the one who taught him how to flirt, weren’t you?”

He laughed at that, a startled, amused noise, as he raked a hand through his hair. “Like t’ think I got more game than _that_ , but the kid’s learning.” He stuck out a hand. “Jack Kelly.”

There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t quite place it, frustrating her to no end. That, coupled with the entirely bizarre moment she was still somehow living, she managed to totally screw up her name.

“Katherine… P-Pulitzer.”

“What, ain’t’cha sure?” Jack teased, grinning a stupid, crooked smile at her, and _that’s right_ , he’d been the one driving the old truck yesterday, the one who winked at her.

Up close, she could tell his eyes were green.

Busying herself by fiddling with the dust jacket of her book, Katherine avoided his eyes a moment before looking back up at him. “Of course I’m sure,” she said, a touch too flippantly.

He shrugged easily. “Hey, you’d know better’n me.” Sitting back on his heels, Jack motioned to her with his chin. “So you’s from outta town?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “What gave me away?” she asked drily.

“Well, I’s a townie an’ I ain’t never seen you before, so you’s gotta be a tourist,” he reasoned. “An’ I gotta say, I’d remember you if you was local.”

Katherine rolled her eyes. “Is _everything_  out of your mouth a cheap pick-up line?”

“An’ if ya take the first word outta every sentence, s’a dirty joke,” Jack agreed easily.

She didn’t want to dignify that by even trying to recall everything he’d said to prove whether or not it was true, but something in her face must’ve given her away, because suddenly Jack was laughing.

“See? I got’cha thinkin’ ‘bout it!” he said, a little too delightedly. “That one’s never worked before, holy shit.”

“You don’t know me!” Katherine tried to protest quickly.

Jack—who’d stopped laughing, but was still smirking slightly—shook his head. “Lemme guess. Only kid, here with ya parents on vacation, from the city, got money ta burn, stayin’ in the nice houses on the other side’a town.”

She tried not to gape at him. That was too close for comfort for someone she’d known all of five minutes. How had he—?

He snorted. “Relax, I recognize ya from yesterday. Car’s pretty fancy an’ ya turned towards Peach, where all the touristy rent houses are. I just guessed the rest, was I close?”

“I’m not an only child.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and Katherine wished she could swallow them back down before Jack could ask more questions.

Instead, he just shrugged. “Me neither. Hear it’s overrated.” The soccer ball from before glanced off his shoulder and Jack turned around.

A skinny blonde with a mess of curls held his arms out indignantly. “C’mon, Kelly, you’s playin’ or flirtin’? Don’t we got a game goin’?”

“Then again…” Jack grumbled, standing and picking up the ball. Stooping so he could see her under the umbrella, he asked, “See you ‘round?”

“It’s a small town.” Honestly, Katherine could smack herself with her book. So far she’s insulted him and his hometown in the space of about five minutes. 

Way to make an impression, Katherine.

Amazingly, Jack just laughed again, already half-turning to rejoin the game. “That it is, Katherine P-Pulitzer.”

He turned his back to her, and _oh god, that ass in those shorts_ , and Katherine dropped her head on her book, groaning.

 

~*~

 

Three days later, Katherine was wandering down Main Street—though you could call it Only, from what she could tell—once again, at her mother’s persistence. She didn’t get it, Mom wasn’t trying to push Dad out the door, and he had been locked in his study pretty much since the day they got there.

But she’d already finished her books, and the only electronic she’d been allowed to bring besides her phone was her laptop, and she was bored.

And hot. Her shorts were sticking to the back of her legs and she could swear her flip-flops were melting into the sidewalk. 

Stepping out of the way of a couple of older ladies making their way slowly between the shops, Katherine stood under the shade of an awning in a futile attempt to cool off.

The shops were all small and quaint with names that didn’t seem to match their purposes. Across from her, for instance, was a store called _That’s Rich_ , that was…

“Oh, an ice cream shop?” Katherine said aloud, noting the beautiful window chalk pictures of double- and triple-scoop cones. That one actually made sense, she supposed.

And also sounded like _exactly_  what she needed right now. 

Checking the street—though she wasn’t sure why, exactly, there definitely wasn’t any cars out—Katherine crossed to the other side quickly, opening the door with a cheery jingle of a bell.

Of course there was a bell.

“Yeah, jus’ a minute,” a voice called out, and she caught herself staring at someone’s back.

Oh, no way. 

It _was_ a small town, wasn’t it?

“Jack?”

He turned around, face splitting into a grin. “Kath’rine! Knew ya couldn’t resist me.”

Katherine floundered a moment before blurting out, “I’m here for ice cream.”

Jack nodded slowly, looking mildly confused. “Generally what people come in here f’r. What’s ya poison?”

“No, I mean–I just. I wanted ice cream. I wasn’t. Looking. For you, I mean.” 

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You gotta funny way’a keepin’ a guy in his place.”

“I just mean—” She could crawl into that freezer in the corner and _die_. What was it about him that made her forget how sentences were formed?

Thankfully, she was saved by the bell—literally. Three more people entered the otherwise empty shop. 

“Jack!” The youngest boy broke away from his older siblings and ran up to the counter. “Hey, Jack!”

“Hey, kid, how ya doin’?” Jack easily turned his attention away from her to focus on the excited new arrival. 

Said new arrival held up a handful of bills. “Look! I swept Mr. Teddy’s back porch f’r ‘im yesterday and he gave me _two dollars_!”

“Two whole dollars, huh?” Jack leaned over the counter. “Well, wouldn’t’cha know, two dollars’ll buy ya… Rocky Road in a cone?”

The boy’s eyes lit up before he turned around to look at his brother and sister. “Davey, can I? _Pleeeeaaaasssee_?”

“That’s okay, Les, but you’re cutting in line,” Davey chided gently. “Come back here and we’ll wait.”

It took Katherine a moment to realize she was standing in front of the counter, effectively forming a line. She moved aside. “He’s fine, I don’t know what I want yet. Go ahead.”

“Are you sure?” he started to ask, but he was quickly drowned out by a cheer from Les, as well as his sister, who put her hands on her hips and grinned wolfishly at Katherine.

“Oooh, who’s the fresh meat?” 

“Sarah, be nice,” Jack said, scooping out Les’ Rocky Road. “Katherine’s new, ya can’t just dunk ‘er into your personality. Ease her in.”

"Are you a tourist?" Les asked, carefully taking the cone Jack offered him with both hands. "I haven't seen ya 'round the hotel."

"Our parents run the hotel down at the end of Main," Davey explained. "We get a lot of tourists around this time."

Katherine shook her head. "Oh, no. Well, yeah, I'm a tourist. I guess," she clarified. "But my parents and I are staying in one of the beach houses on—"

"—the other side of the tracks," Sarah finished, her grin slipping off her face.

Davey checked her with his hip, a silent message of... something, she was sure, when Sarah simply pursed her lips and turned to Jack.

"Alright, Cowboy, I'm feeling adventurous today. Surprise me."

Katherine stood, uncomfortably, to the side as Davey and Sarah paid for their ice cream and Les steadily made a mess of his before they left, waving to Jack. Davey even gave her an almost friendly nod before he stepped out the door.

"Gotta idea now?" Jack asked, as though nothing had interrupted their conversation. "Got some samples if ya still ain't sure."

"Uhm, no, it's fine. Just a scoop of coffee ice cream. Please," she added, but he was already turning to scoop her ice cream.

"S'two-fifty," he said over his shoulder, and Katherine nodded even though he couldn't see her and pulled a bit of cash from her wallet, shoving some of it in the tip jar next to the register and holding the rest out for when he turned back around with her ice cream.

"Ya seen much of the town?" Jack asked her as he handed her the cup of coffee ice cream. 

She shook her head, murmuring a thanks as she picked up a plastic spoon by the register. "Not much. Main Street and the beach mostly."

Giving her a little grin, he called over his shoulder. "Miss Medda, s'it alright if I close up an' go on break?"

A voice floated in from the back. "Yeah, go on, sugar. Be back in an hour, okay?"

"'Course I will." Jack was rounding the counter, jerking his head towards the door. "You comin'?'

Katherine paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth. "Where?"

"'m gonna show ya the town, by a real townie." He faltered a bit when he saw she wasn't immediately following. "'less... Sorry, I shoulda asked. I got 'head'a myself."

She shook her head quickly, jamming her spoon back in the styrofoam cup. "No, it's fine. That sounds... fun."

His easy grin returned slowly. "Yeah?"

Katherine shrugged a little. "Yeah. I'm going to be here another two and a half months, might as well learn all the good spots."

"Well then you's in luck," Jack said, grinning broadly as he opened the door for her. "I know the  _best_ places around town.”

 

~*~

 

"There's not as many tourists as I would've thought," Katherine mused as the wandered down the sidewalk. Jack had shown her the a couple of little boutiques, a deli, an autoshop he said his brother "Race" worked at—she was... seventy-five percent sure he was messing with her—and, finally, the little library.

(Davey from earlier had also been there, looking like he'd been caught doing something as he leaned against the counter, talking to the girl behind the front desk, Chaya, something that hadn't seemed to phase Jack. He just clapped his shoulder, saying something low and teasing to Davey)

But all of the places he'd shown her were suspiciously void of other tourists.

Jack shrugged. "Got about 'nother week 'fore too many tourists show up. You an' your folks is just early."

She nodded slowly, scrunching her nose as she remembered how Sarah reacted when she'd said she was a tourist. "Are tourists... do you all secretly despise the people who show up and disrupt your town for three, four months out of the year?" she tried to joke.

He saw right through it. "You still thinkin' 'bout what Sarah said?" Before Katherine could answer, he was moving on. "Promise she's harmless, just a li'l prickly 'fore ya get to know her. The Jacobs own the only hotel in town, but people've been goin' more an' more out to the beach houses. Mayer an' Esther don't talk much 'bout it, but Davey an' Sarah picked up on the troubles. Davey's just better at hidin' it."

"Oh." It was all she could say. She didn't know them, she hadn't been in charge of where they chose to stay, but she still felt guilty.

Jack didn't give her a chance to say any more anyways, grasping her wrist and pulling her into another store. "Oh, hey, my sister works here, c'mon!"

Katherine didn't get a chance to see the shop name before they were inside, but the animals behind a neat line of cages made it clear immediately.

"Hey, JoJo, Crutchie around?"

A young boy kneeling next a pen of puppies looked up at Jack's voice. "Hey, Jack! Crutchie's in the back, she said she'd be back in just a sec."

"Sounds good, kid. You finally gettin' a dog?"

"No," JoJo pouted. "Mom still won't let me get one. I'm just gettin' food for my sister's stupid  _hamster_."

"Hey, Jack!" A younger girl on crutches rounded the shelf, smiling cheerfully, hair braided over her shoulder. "Sorry, JoJo, we only got this one left, tell ya mom she can come in Thursday an' we'll have more."

JoJo wasn't paying attention, already back to sticking his fingers through the cage to pet the dogs as best he could. Crutchie tossed her braid a bit, shifting her weight so she could nudge him with her crutch. "C'mon kid, don't got all day."

Sighing heavily, JoJo stood up to pay for the hamster food. "Bye, puppies," he said mournfully.

As he left, Crutchie turned back to Jack and Katherine. "Hey, whatcha doin' here, Jackie?" she asked, bumping her head against his chest. "An' who's ya friend?" 

Katherine waved a little. "I'm Katherine. I'm here for the summer."

"Crutchie—Charlie if ya feelin' formal. Charlotte if ya Medda. Nice ta meet'cha. An' thanks f'r the new posters, Jackie, Kloppman loves 'em." Crutchie jerked her head towards the sign for puppies tacked up on the wall. 

Katherine drifted a little towards them to get a better look. "You did these, Jack?"

"Yeah!" Crutchie chirped. "Jackie's the best, he does all the signs in town, even the window art in Miss Medda's shop."

"The ice cream cones?" she asked looking back at Jack. "Those are great, I loved them."

Crutchie rocked on her crutches a little. "He's real good with a camera, too, ya should see—oh! Here, Kloppmann's got one in the back."

She was in and out of the room faster than Katherine could have imagined, holding a framed picture under her arm. "Here. Ain't it pretty? That's the overlook. City over's got a nice view."

Katherine took the frame from her. It was at sunset, making the trees look like shadowy silhouettes in the fog. "Wow, this is really amazing, Jack."

Jack shrugged self-consciously. "Take it easy, s'just a buncha trees."

"Jackie's bein' modest," Crutchie said, shaking her head. "So, Kath'rine, ya spendin' lots'a time with Jack?"

Katherine just barely missed the look Jack shot Crutchie as she answered. "Uhm, kind of? We just met, he's just showing me around town."

"Well, Jackie _is_ the best," his sister said. "He's a good one... f'r showin' new people 'round town an'—"

"Okay, thanks f'r nothin' Charlie, Smalls is my new favorite, c'mon Kath'rine, bye!" Jack said, pulling her out of the pet shop quickly as Crutchie laughed.

Katherine laughed as well, noticing the tips of Jack's ears turning bright red. She wasn't sure why, exactly, just enough to tell that Charlie had been teasing him. The poor guy looked mortified enough, so she let it slide, bumping his shoulder and asking, "Okay, so you called Charlie your sister, and Race your brother—how many siblings do you have?"

"Charlie here, Race—not his real name, I know you was wonderin'—Romeo—actual real name, despite the kid's abilities to talk to... anyone, really. Then there's Smalls, you haven't met her yet. We all live with Medda, she owns the ice cream shop."

Katherine nodded a little. "But Race and Charlie—are they siblings? Like, biologically, I mean."

"The blonde hair makes it look that way, huh? Everyone thinks so at first, but Race's a Higgins, Charlie's a Morris. Never met 'fore they came to Medda's."

"Wow. Okay, so, two brothers, two sisters? That sounds... crowded?" she laughed a little. "Bad choice of words, I just can't imagine living with so many people."

"Yeah?" he asked, looking down at her. "What 'bout'chu? Ya said you wasn't a only child."

She shook her head. "Pretty small. Mom, Dad, me, and Lucy."

Jack whistled lowly. "Damn, that is small. How d'ya live with the quiet?"

"Loud music that drives my parents insane," she answered back, only half-joking. She and Lucy had always played their music at a volume their parents disapproved of, but lately it'd gotten worse.

"That'd be chaos in our house, we all listen to...very different music," he laughed.

"So did me and Lucy, how do you think we drove them crazy?"

"Hey, there ya go—oh, that's the coffeeshop. Good coffee, li'l bakery inside. Race's boyfriend works there..." As Jack said it, someone came out the side door into the alley, dumping a bag of trash in the dumpster. "Speak'a the devil—Hey, Spotty, this is Katherine, she's gonna be 'round this summer."

The boy—about their age and several inches shorter—looked up at them, jerking his head in a nod at Katherine. "You over on Peach?"

"Hey c'mon, Spot—"

"I should just get it on a tshirt at this point," Katherine joked. "Yeah, I'm over on Peach, but I don't plan on spending much time there."

"Can't say I blame ya," Spot said. "Folks over there's a bunch'a rich, stick-up-their-asses tourists."

Jack looked like he was about to say something in her defense—though she knew he had to think the same—but Katherine laughed. "So, you've met my parents?"

Spot barked a short laugh, nodding appreciatively. "I gotta get back, but we got pretty good coffee here. An' I ain't sayin' that 'cause we're the only coffeeshop—Say it 'cause they make us." With that, he turned on his heel to go back inside.

Turning to her, Jack gave her an impressed look. "Wow."

"What?"

He shrugged. "Spot likes ya. Or he will faster'n anyone else."

Katherine scrunched up her nose, following him out of the alley. "He barely said anything to me."

"Better'n what happened to Race. Spot shoved him on the playground when they first met."

"When was  _that_?" she asked, laughing, trying to picture Spot being able to push Race over. She'd barely gotten to see Race, but even he was shorter than her, and Spot was maybe Charlie's height.

Jack shrugged a little. "Dunno, like third, fourth grade? They was the same height then, easier f'r Spot back then."

"Oh my god, I can't even imagine that," Katherine said, shaking her head.

"It was somethin'." Jack stopped to look at the time on his phone. "Hey, 'm sorry, I gotta be headed back."

"Yeah, sure, of course." Katherine tried to ignore the disappointed feeling in her stomach. "Thank you for the real town tour by a real townie."

"Well," Jack said, spreading his hands. "Ain't complete 'til I show ya the arcade and the movie theater."

She tilted her head, shrugging. "So maybe I'll see you sometime, and you'll show me the arcade and theater?"

He shrugged, too, grinning as he walked backwards, back towards the ice cream shop. "S'a small town, Kath'rine. Sure we'll see each other 'round."

  

~*~

 

"Hey, Pulitzer," Jack said, rapping his knuckles on her table at the library. 

A week ago, his sudden appearance would have made her jump. She wasn't entirely sure how it happened, but Katherine found herself spending more and more time with Jack. Keeping his word of seeing her around town, it was like he'd somehow become attuned to her location, no matter where she was. 

(To be fair, she was almost always at the library with Chaya, so she wasn't that hard find)

But now she just held up a finger so she could finish her page before looking up and smiling at him. "Hey. What's up?"

"Smalls got herself grounded f'r breakin' curfew, so she can't play baseball today," Jack said it as though that was explanation enough.

Katherine waited for him to continue. She vaguely knew of the baseball game once a week. It was hard to be here nearly a month and not hear about it. But she didn't see what Smalls being unable to play that day had to do with her. "And?"

Jack spread his hands, looking at her expectantly. "Can ya play?"

"Play... baseball?"

"Yeah. Can ya?"

She couldn't. Not really. Other than generally being able to throw a ball and sometimes catch it, Katherine was mostly helpless.

"Sort of?"

"Great, c'mon." He stood up, waiting for her to follow.

Katherine blinked up at him. "Wait, now?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, game starts in five. Lot's on the edge of town, we gotta  _go_." He grabbed her hand, tugging her to her feet.

She grabbed her bag, shoving her book into it as she followed. Chaya looked up as they blew past the front desk. "Is—everything okay?"

"I'm... playing baseball?" Katherine said a little uncertainly as Jack dragged her out the front door.

Chaya nodded seriously in understanding. "Good luck. We're on a winning streak, don't let us down."

"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence!" The door closed on Chaya's laughing face.

By the time Jack and Katherine made it out to the field, Spot and Davey were deciding who got to be home team.

"Hey, guys! I found our ninth!" Jack said by way of greeting to a group of people she only recognized half of, like Charlie and Race and Sarah. The others were vaguely familiar, but she'd only seen them in passing.

"Jack!" Charlie bounded up to them, rocking on her crutches, butting her head against Jack's shoulder. "Hey, Kath! Ya gonna play?"

"Looks like it," Katherine said, a little uncertainly as Davey came over, looking disappointed. 

"Hey, we're hittin' first," he said.

Their team groaned as Katherine looked around, confused. "Hey, hey, it's alright," Jack said, raising his voice over the chatter. "Okay, same battin' order, 'cept Smalls ain't here, so Kath's takin' her spot as second batter. Crutchie's umpin', Romeo, ya movin' to second an' Kath's in left field. Let's go!"

Katherine was frozen a beat as the team scattered, picking up bats and pushing each other before jogging a little to catch up with Jack. "Hey, so when I said I knew how to play, I wasn't being entirely truthful."

"Nah, c'mon, anyone can do it. Here," he handed her a bat. "Hold this like ya gonna go hit."

She felt silly but she propped the bat on her shoulder, shrugging. Jack looked like he was holding something back—probably a laugh—and simply readjusted her grip. "See these knuckles? Gotta line up. An' ya just swing at the ball. Easy. Ya ready?"

"Wait, but second batter?" Katherine asked, a little desperately. "Is that really... the best idea?"

"Yeah, s'fine. Romeo's up, then you, Davey, an' Sarah—she's our best hitter. Other team's gonna heckle you some since you's new. Just don't listen to 'em an' you'll be fine."

"That's..." Jack was already moving away to talk to Romeo. "Not helpful," she said to no one.

She tried watching Romeo for tips for actually swinging her bat, which proved futile when the boy struck out to sneers and jeers from the infield.

Feeling her insides twist, Katherine passed Romeo on the way to the plate. He gave her a cheery smile.

"Good luck! Keep ya eye on the ball!" he said, shooting her a thumbs up.

"Thanks," she muttered, still unsure exactly to what she'd agreed. Stepping up to the plate, she ignored the infield as they looked mildly confused but then took several steps forward.

"Oooh, new hitter!" one boy yelled. 

"Move it up," another called. "Easy out."

"Hey, Conlon, get a hold of your team!" Sarah yelled. 

"Don't dish it out if ya can't take it," Spot yelled back.

"She's new, cut her some slack!"

"She shoulda thought'a that 'fore she joined!"

Gritting her teeth, Katherine lined up her hands like Jack had shown her and planted her feet. 

"Alright," Crutchie said. "C'mon, bring it back, we gotta game."

Spot and Sarah stopped yelling at each other, and the pitcher wound up to throw the ball. Katherine flinched, she couldn't help it, and the ball whizzed past her, smacking the catcher's glove. 

"Strike!" Crutchie yelled. 

"Might as well take a nap," the kid on second—how was he playing with a eyepatch, she'd never know—called. "Ain't nothin' here."

"Hey, Blink, shut ya mouth 'fore I take ya other eye," Jack yelled. "Ignore him, Kath'rine, ya doin' fine."

Katherine shook her head, squaring up again. The pitcher threw the ball and she swung wildly, too early and too high, arching the bat like she was swatting something out of the air. 

"Where'd Kelly find this one?" the catcher muttered behind her as she threw the ball back.

"Joey, be nice," she heard Charlie say to the catcher, and Katherine took a deep breath, squaring up as the pitcher started to throw. She closed her eyes—stupid instinct—and swung.

The bat connected with a satisfying  _thwack_!

Katherine blinked hard, dumbly holding the bat a long moment before remembering she was supposed to run.

"Run, Kath!" Jack yelled, and she dropped her bat, running to first.

Thankfully, she seemed to have shocked the entire field. It took them a beat to start moving and she was rounding first before Spot finally scooped up the ball, throwing it to the kid on second.

Scrambling backwards, Katherine stayed on first.

"Alright, nice hit, Kath!" Jack clapped. "Let's go, Dave, bring 'er home."

Davey didn't do more than move her to second, but then Sarah came up to bat and, as promised, smacked the first pitch into way into centerfield.

Katherine chanced a look back. Spot was still chasing the ball.

She started to round third.

" _No_!" she faintly heard Jack cry in despair. But she'd had too much momentum and Katherine allowed it to drive her around third, towards home plate.

Her feet pounded on the ground in time with her heart. 

She wasn't going to make it. Spot had thrown the ball from centerfield— _damn_ , she couldn't help but think—and Joey was prepared to catch it.

Katherine tried to remember how to slide into home.

She couldn't.

Awkwardly trying to tuck her leg under her, mid-run, Katherine ended up in a graceless flop. More... scooting towards home, rather than sliding into it. 

" _Safe_!" Charlie yelled, and Katherine looked up at her in disbelief. 

"Really?"

Joey grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet, a bit roughly. "Spot overthrew. Nice slide, there, Pulitzer," she said in gruff admiration.

Standing to walk back to her team's side, Katherine's knee buckled. Twisting, she looked down to see a faintly bloody scrape on the back of her calf. "Thanks," she said, wincing. "Probably won't be doing that again."

She'd barely gotten the last word out when the rest of her team swarmed her, clapping her on the shoulder, the back, whatever was reachable. It was intense, suddenly being surrounded and jostled by people who clearly had no sense of personal space, but it was also... 

 _Really_ nice. 

 

~*~

 

"Gotta say, Pulitzer, you can really hold ya own in baseball," Jack said, bumping her shoulder with his. He was walking her home after the game. After her luck ran out on her first hit, she didn't make it back on base and, quite honestly, she could've done without being stuck in the outfield with the younger kids, even if she understood, but it'd been fun. 

"First time," Katherine said proudly. "And I have  _injuries_ from it, so cool it with the pushing."

Jack waved a hand dismissively, even as he gave her a teasing look. "Aw, that ain't nothin', you'll be fine." 

Snorting, she said, sarcastically, "Your concern is touching." They walked a ways quietly, before she asked, "How come I haven't seen some of those other kids? On Spot's team? Joey and the twins and... everyone."

Shrugging Jack said, "They live on the other side'a town. Not so great part'a town, really. Tend to run in our own circles—you an' Spot're the only 'ceptions."

"Why Spot, how'd that happen?"

"He an' Race've been friends pretty much since Race came ta live with me an' Medda. Started datin'... year ago? We're pretty much another family f'r him. His dad ain't... great."

She just barely managed to hold the question of what "ain't great" meant, but she did. It wasn't her place, and it wasn't hard to guess if Spot was on the wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks. So she and Jack just kept walking. 

Slowly, they came to a stop at the intersection where they went different directions, but Katherine caught herself stalling, not wanting to actually leave.

"Hey, so," Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I ain't properly shown ya the arcade, yet, have I?"

She shook her head. "No, you haven't. And you did promise you would."

"Right." He nodded very seriously. "An' I am a man'a my word. So... Friday? Joey's workin' night shift, I don't gotta go in."

Katherine pretended to consider that—really, what other plans would she have? "Can we still go get ice cream after?"

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, sure we can. Want me ta come pick ya up? Or—"

"I can meet you there," Katherine said quickly. It was still weird for her for everyone to know she was staying in the largest beach house in town. She wasn't used to people not knowing exactly her family's position—Billy, Darcy, and Clara all came from old money like her—and she just... wasn't sure how to deal with it exactly. "I remember where it is, so, seven? Does that work?"

He didn't seem to realize her inner struggle. "Yeah, sounds good." Jack dropped his hand, almost reaching for her, like he might pat her shoulder or something, but it just dropped to his his side. "I'll see ya Friday then?"

She hip-checked him, giving him a smile. "Friday," she agreed, turning left and walking back towards their rented house, feeling like she was floating.

Her good mood dissipated quickly, however, as soon as she walked through the door and her mother began fretting over her scrape and dirty clothing, sure her daughter had been mugged. Which was ridiculous, it was far more dark and sketchy back home than here, but Mom wasn't apparently in the mindset to realize this.

"Mom, relax," Katherine said, batting her hands away. "I went out and played baseball with some friends."

'Friends' slipped out without her realizing it, and it didn't occur to her how weird it sounded until her mother froze, giving her an odd look. Whether it was at the friends comment or the baseball part, she wasn't sure, but Katherine suddenly felt a little self-conscious.

"You _said_ go out and meet the locals," Katherine muttered, shrugging her off and climbing the stairs a little awkwardly to the bathroom. She was in the middle of cleaning off her scrape when her phone started buzzing like crazy.

_HereQueerTiredAF: tag urself im katherine floppin in2 home plate_

_Scarecrow: Her first group chat and you're already insulting her?_

_Spotty: she might as well learn what its gonna be like_

_Spotty: half races personality is insulting ppl_

_LezBeHonest: he's got a point_

It took Katherine a long moment to realize they were referring to her and that they had added her to their coveted group chat. Grinning a little, she picked up her phone to reply.

_Princess: At least it's just my leg that got bruised. Not my ego, like someone who threw a fit when they were called out._

"Princess?" she said aloud reading the handle someone—probably Race, if she was a betting woman—had given her.

_Princess: And Princess? Original much?_

Her phone buzzed again, this time a separate text from Jack.

_Jack: sorry about that_

_Jack: race insisted_

_Jack: welcome to the group?_

_Katherine: I love it._

 

~*~

 

"—and I thought that might be fun. What do you think, Joseph? Katherine?"

Katherine looked up blearily from the coffeemaker, where she was waiting for it to spit out her coffee. "Hm?" she asked, reaching for her bagel as it popped up out of the toaster. 

"I thought maybe the three of us could go see a movie. There's a theater in town, right? Or maybe we could drive into the city, if there's nothing good showing here. How does that sound?" her mother asked again.

"I have plans," Katherine mumbled around her bagel.

Kate gave her a disapproving look. "I didn't understand you with the bagel in your mouth, dear," she said drily. "And please look at me when you're talking to me."

Rolling her eyes slightly, Katherine swallowed her bite before turning to her mother. "I have plans," she repeated. "I'm going to the arcade with a friend."

"I have work to get done tonight, too," her father said without looking up from his newspaper. "Actually," he said, looking at his watch. "I have a phone conference, I should go call in." Picking up his coffee and paper, Joseph strode out of the kitchen.

"Katherine," her mother said, pleading.

"What?" she asked, finally taking a sip of her coffee. "Dad's always working, that's not my fault."

"I know he's been working a lot, sweetheart, but if we both convince him, maybe we can pull him away from his computer for one night."

Katherine snorted. "Not likely," she muttered into her cup.

Giving her a hard look, Kate said, "Don't get an attitude with me, Katherine. What is that supposed to mean, anyways?"

She shrugged. "I just mean that for a family vacation, we've spent most of our time separately, and Dad's done a lot of working. And even if both of us ganging up on him would work, I already said I had plans."

"With who, I might ask? We haven't even been here a month."

Katherine set her mug down a little too hard in the sink. "Mom, you said I couldn't stay in the house all the time. So I went out. I made friends. And now that's wrong too?"

"You didn't answer my question, Katherine," her mother said instead of answering.

Turning from the sink, Katherine shrugged. "His name is Jack, his mom owns the ice cream place,  _That's Rich_."

"And that's where you've been spending all of your time? An ice cream shop?" her mother asked disbelievingly.

"Not all my time, Mom. Sometimes the library or the coffeeshop. What does it matter where I am, anyways, Mom?" Katherine asked. "It's not like you notice anyway."

Kate crossed her arms. "Now that's not fair, Katherine—"

"No, what's not fair is you not knowing my friends' names and not knowing that there's a decent theater in town when you insisted on this vacation in the first place," she shot back.

"Well, I don't think these friends are all that good an influence on you. You're coming home bloody and bruised—"

"That was from  _baseball_ and it wasn't even that bad—"

"—Coming home with an attitude—"

"—Always had that, don't know why you're acting like it's new—"

"—and now you're acting like you can't be bothered to spend time with us."

Katherine sighed heavily through her nose. "Mom, if I thought there was even a chance, I'd go to the movies with you and Dad. But I have plans. I'll be home by midnight."

 

~*~

  

Katherine tugged a little self-consciously at her tshirt. Walking had seemed like a good idea when she said she would, but it was so hot and humid out, her shirt was sticking to her uncomfortably.

Her parents hadn't even looked up when she left, which was fine by Katherine. After the argument with her mom, she wanted nothing more than to just get out of the house with no further questions.

Jack was waiting outside the arcade, grinning when he saw her. "Hey. Ya found the place."

"Told you I would," she said, smiling.

He jerked his head to the door, pulling it open for her. "C'mon, ya ready f'r gamin' and bad arcade food?" 

Katherine laughed. "What more could a girl ask for?"

The AC was on full blast, chilling her as they bought their tokens, wandering a bit to decide what game to play first.

"Hey, 'm sorry if I put'cha on the spot the other day with the baseball game," Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Davey mentioned I mighta put my competitive spirit 'fore how ya felt."

Katherine shrugged. "It was... a little intense. If I hadn't been so blindsided, I would've broken out my own competitive side. Next time," she promised. "I've been working on my trash talk, so watch yourself, Kelly."

"Oh yeah? What'cha got?"

"I don't know I was thinking something with Spot. Like, he's so short, his strike zone is smaller that Les', or something like that."

Jack snorted. "Okay, you's new an' you's pretty, so I'm gonna let'cha have that one, but 'm pretty sure Davey used that one last summer."

"Oh," Katherine scrunched up her nose before the first part of his sentence registered with her. "But you're going to let it go because I'm pretty?"

He looked self-conscious, rubbing the back of his neck. "I, uh, s'just—Oh, look, skee ball, 'm pretty good at this," Jack said instead, dragging her over to the skee ball machine. 

"Uh-huh..." Katherine laughed, biting her lip as she followed him.

"Yeah, I swear. Watch, see that purple teddy bear up there? 'm gonna win it for ya," he promised.

She looked back over her shoulder to the prize booth. "Alright. But I'm counting on you to win him for me, because I can see someone else eyeing it."

"'Ay, don't worry, 'm a pro," Jack said, waving a hand as the balls rolled towards him. "Watch this."

His shots were mostly '30s' and '40s', which was...respectable, Katherine supposed.

The ticket machine spat out out a handful of tickets and Katherine shrugged. "Not bad," she said mildly.

"Oh yeah?" Jack dropped in a token so the balls rolled down towards them once more. "Think you c'n do better?" he asked, popping a ball off his forearm.

Katherine caught the ball, surprising Jack and giving him an incredulous look. "I think I can hold my own," she said drily.

At least five of her shots landed in the '50' hole, a couple in the '100', and one, sad shot she preferred to forget wound up in '30'.

She looked up at Jack as the machine spat out a long string of tickets. "Oh, I forgot to mention," she said, breaking into a grin. "I'm  _awesome_ at this game."

Eyebrows up around his hairline, Jack nodded slowly, impressed. "Okay, so then you's winnin' _me_ a teddy bear."

 

~*~

 

"Honestly, I didn't even know they gave fish as prizes at arcades," Katherine said as they stepped out of the pet store, loaded down with an aquarium and other fish supplies. "Are you sure you can keep it alive?"

Jack's head snapped up from the fat goldfish swimming in a plastic bag. "I's helped keep  _Racetrack Higgins_ alive f'r eight years, an' ya think I can't handle a goldfish?"

She held her hands up defensively. "I'm just saying, I won a lot of tickets for you to get that fish, I don't want to be invited to a fish funeral in two weeks."

"Yeah, yeah," he was already back to examining the fish. "What should we name 'im?" 

Katherine shrugged. "I don't know—Gil?"

Jack looked up at her. "I never took you for one to stooping as low as going with a _fish pun_."

"Goldie? Pepperidge? Ooh—what are the goldfish cracker names?" She laughed as he groaned.

"Okay, you's officially off namin' duty," Jack declared. "You would _dare_ do that to our fish?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Our fish?"

"Yeah, you won 'im. I ain't takin' all the responsibility f'r 'im." He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world and Katherine snorted.

"Yeah, well, he's staying at your place. Mom wouldn't let me or Lucy have so much as a pet rock growing up."

Jack scrunched his nose, looking back up at her. "Sounds borin'."

Katherine shrugged. "It was okay. We had riding lessons for, like, eight years? So we—kind of—had horses."

" _Ridin'_ lessons? Damn, your folks are _r_ _ich_."

"Yeah, we'd go out to this farm and ride—I think Lucy's was Ladybug and mine was Coconut. We used to pretend they were ours since we couldn't actually keep them." Jack gave her a look. "I know," she said, wrinkling her nose a little. "Sad little rich girl who never had a pony."

He shook his head quickly. "Nah, I was just wonderin', there used to be a family way out just outside'a town, Race used to go out there an' ride horses. Thought that might'a been where you went."

"Race rides?"

"Useta. The girl who lived there was sweet on 'im an' let him go ridin' with her."

"That poor girl," Katherine laughed. Race was about as obvious as they come and she grew up with Darcy Reid. "She ever figure out he's, you know, super gay?"

"Never, far's we know," Jack said, shaking his head. "Moved 'fore Race an' Spot became a thing, so she's prob'ly somewhere thinkin'—"

 A man stumbled out of Jacobi's in front of them, swaying as he stood, interrupting Jack.

He was barely Katherine's height, round barrel chest and broad shoulders, wearing a dirty tank top and smelling like her father's entire liquor cabinet.

Jack shifted so he was partially in front of her. "Mr. Conlon," he said steadily. Katherine felt her eyebrows shoot up.

 _This_ was Spot's dad?

The man struggled to focus on Jack. "I knows ya. You's one'a them strays that Larkin woman took'n, ain't ya?"

"Yeah, 'm Medda's son."

"S'too many damn kids runnin' 'round over'ere. How the hell she feed all'a ya?" He squinted at Jack accusatorially before answering his own question. "Well, I guess she gets'a pretty penny f'r each'a ya, huh?"

Jack didn't look taken aback to shocked or even angry. "Yeah, sure."

Mr. Conlon looked bored with their conversation, scratching his chest and looking up and down the street. "Ya seen that no-good kid'a mine?" he finally asked.

"He's workin' tonight."

"Well if ya do," he continued as though Jack hadn't spoken. "Tell 'im I wan' his ass home soon's he's done'r I'll have 'is hide, got it?"

"Yeah, I'll tell him if I see him," Jack agreed tightly, inching them around the man. Mr. Conlon lurched forward and started walking—staggering—in the opposite direction.

Katherine waited until they had walked a ways down the street before asking, "So. That was Spot's dad?"

Jack nodded shortly. "Yup. An' s'only nine. He just gets worse afta' he ends up at Weasel's place on the other side'a town."

She glanced back, even though she couldn't see the man any more. "I get what you mean about 'ain't great'," she said, wincing.

"Yeah, Medda'd take Spot in if she could, s'just never worked out. But Spotty's tough, an' he's got all'a us watchin' out for him. Mostly 'cause Race'd be terrible to live with if somethin' happened."

It was starting to occur to Katherine that there was more to the little beach town that met the eye. 

Before she could ask any more, Jack jerked his head to a house off to the side. "This's me. Ya sure ya don't want me to take ya home? I think Racer's got the truck, but I can walk ya back over to Peach if ya want."

Katherine scrunched up her nose a little. At this point there probably wasn't much point in hiding it, everyone knew she was staying in the 'rich' side of town. But there was still a part of her that didn't want anyone to see.

But on the other hand, she wasn't ready to say goodnight. 

"No, that's okay. I can make it back on my own," she finally said.

He gave her a long look before shrugging a little. "If ya sure." Jack set the aquarium on the porch and took the bag from Katherine before turning back to her, rubbing the back of his neck again. "Well, thanks f'r my fish. Promise we'll come up with a good name f'r him."

"Yeah, no problem. Could've won you two if I'd made it over to DDR. But I understand if you didn't want to lose two games to a _girl_ ," Katherine teased.

"You's pretty cocky, how's you know you'd beat me?"

She shrugged. "Ten years of tap."

Jack barked a laugh. "Okay, so your trash-talkin' is shit, but you c'n live up to ya talk an' I respect that."

"So does that mean we'll go back, give me a chance to prove it?" she asked.

"We's got all summer, right? Plenty'a time f'r... dancin' an' I still owe ya a scoop at Medda's..."

His eyes were darting from her eyes to her mouth and he was halfway leaning towards her but no closer and Katherine finally just blurted out, "Okay, are you going to kiss me, or do I have to do everything?"

His mouth closed over hers and he kissed her softly, hand slotting over her hip. Katherine sighed as Jack pulled away.

"But really, we gotta work on ya trash talk 'cause that was better, but—"

"Oh my god, you talk too much," she said, pulling him back and kissing him again. 

 

~*~

 

Katherine groaned quietly, pulling a pillow over her head. 

Her parents have been fighting more and more since Lucy.

She didn't know what they were fighting about this time, didn't care to know, she just wished they would fucking remember that she was just a flight up, right off the stairs, and could hear everything.

Normally, back home, Katherine would just sneak out to Billy's or Darcy's or Clara's for an hour or so. Here, though, she didn't have that option.

Katherine tossed the pillow aside, staring at the ceiling before turning her head and catching a glimpse of her phone just as it faded to black from a new text. Sitting up, she pulled her phone towards her, clicking the home button to read:

_Jack: ok u were right_

_Jack: outsiders p good_

_Jack: race =_ _twobit_

It'd been a week since their date at the arcade and, impossibly, they've been spending even more time together. He'd been bugging her at the library two days ago, so she dropped  _The Outsiders_ in front of him in an attempt to get through her own book. Apparently he'd finally started.

Laughing a little, Katherine typed back quickly.

_Katherine: Not Sodapop? Charming, works on cars, pretty boy?_

His answer came immediately.

_Jack: pls dont ever call race pretty again_

_Jack: its unsettling_

_Katherine: Aw, don't be jealous, Jack. You're pretty, too ;)_

_Jack: im NOT jealous of race_

_Jack: how dare u_

_Katherine: Methinks the Kelly doth protest too much_

_Jack: ha ha_

_Jack: y u still up?_

_Jack: its late_

_Pot calling the kettle black_ , she thought as, downstairs, her mother's voice went shrill, and Katherine resisted the childish urge to clap her hands over her ears.

_Katherine: Can't sleep._

_Jack: too busy thinkin bout me? ;)_

_Katherine: Our fish, actually. Can I come see him?_

Chewing her thumbnail, Katherine waited for him to text back. 

He would say no. He had to, it was eleven-thirty, he only texted her because  _he_ couldn't sleep and got bored. More than once this summer she'd woken up to random, late-night thoughts he typically forgot he even sent. 

But still. Even with his own room—perks of being the oldest, he'd said—but there was still Smalls and Charlie and Race and Romeo and Medda, there was no way—

Her phone buzzed.

_Jack: sure_

_Jack: want me to come get u?_

Sighing in relief, Katherine replied before tossing her phone on the bed and changing, mapping her escape route in her head. 

_Katherine: I can walk. Thanks_

_Jack: no problem_

_Jack: come around back, ill let u in_

 

~*~

 

Katherine slipped out of Jack's room, closing the door quietly behind her, holding her shoes in one hand. She couldn't help but fret about how it would look, but she  _swore_ they only fell asleep in the middle of an in-depth  _Outsiders_ discussion.

And maybe some kissing.

(A lot of kissing)

Turning, she nearly jumped out of her skin, coming face-to-face with Spot, his own shirt halfway on. 

They froze a long moment, staring at each other while Katherine self-consciously smoothed down her hair and Spot tugged his shirt down all the way. 

She hadn't spent much time with Spot, but she definitely hadn't envisioned their time together including standing half-dressed in the hallway.

"Uh." He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck. "Ya need a ride? Back, uh. To Peach?"

Nodding, Katherine said, "Yeah, that would... be nice. Thanks."

Spot nodded shortly, crouching to pick up his shoes. "Follow me. Stairs creak an' there's a squeaky spot outside'a Smalls an' Crutchie's room. Trust me, ya don't wanna have to buy their silence. Kids're expensive."

She nodded again, quietly hooking her fingers through the straps of her flip-flops, following him, stepping where he did as they crept down the stairs. They passed the girls' room, carefully skirting the aforementioned squeaky spot. 

He stopped them just outside what she assumed was Medda's room, listening a moment before looking back over his shoulder. "Alright, she's in the shower, we's clear."

They crossed the kitchen to the backdoor, Spot unlocking it and opening it quietly with an expert hand, and they slipped out into the backyard. 

"I'm parked about a block down, so my car don't wake anyone up," Spot explained, dropping his shoes on the ground to shove his feet in them. "Thank god Medda don't gotta fence, they's a bitch to jump."

"Why do you sneak around?" Katherine asked, hopping on one foot to slide her flip flop on before following him. "Doesn't Medda know about you and Race?"

"Yeah, she knows. Encouragin' to a fault about it too." He snorted. "She worries 'bout me 'nough as it is with my dad, if she knew it was bad 'nough I sneak into Racer's room when he drinks too much—it'd be too much. She's already worryin' 'bout five kids, don't need a sixth."

Katherine hadn't known Medda very long, but even in the short while she had, she was pretty sure Medda wouldn't mind another kid to worry about. But if she knew nothing about Spot, she knew he had his pride, so she just nodded as they rounded the house to the front yard. "Well, thanks for sneaking me out."

"Yeah, o'course, Kathy." Spot tossed a look back to her. "Can I call ya that?"

She shrugged, considering that. It wasn't the worst thing she'd ever been called, not after the infamous 'Kit-Kat' phase in middle school. "I don't  _hate_ it."

"Cool." 

Down the street, Katherine climbed into the passenger seat of Spot's car. "I don't mean to pry or anything—"

"Then don't," he said shortly.

She clamped her mouth shut a moment, but her curiosity got the better of her. "I just... Race and Romeo share a room, right?"

"You's wonderin' why I sneak in an' how I know my way 'round so well." Spot took his eyes off the road briefly to look at her. She nodded. "Well, ya must know somethin' 'bout my dad, if ya ain't askin' 'bout him first."

It wasn't a question, but Katherine answered anyways. "Jack just mentioned he drank. Some." She didn't dare tell him that she'd seen the man himself in action.

Spot snorted. "'Some's an understatement but yeah. Started a few years back afta' Mom died. Kept gettin' worse, so I started goin' to Medda's, hangin' out with Race 'stead'a goin' home. Started sleepin' over, but you can only do that so many times 'fore it starts lookin' funny. Pay off Romeo not to give us up an' I sneak in every few days. Just. Gettin' out of the house."

It was the most she'd ever heard Spot say in a single breath, and, though she still had a thousand more questions, she didn't want to push him back into silence, so Katherine simply nodded. They drove quietly for a long while.

"Dads are dicks," she finally said as he turned on Peach.

Barking a startled laugh, Spot nodded, casting her a side look. "Yeah. They are."

"You can let me out here," Katherine said, pointing to a street corner. The houses were getting bigger and nicer than even Medda's home, and given what she knew about Spot, especially nicer than where he lived with his father. Jack had said no one had been to the Conlon home, not even Race, but she could imagine an old little place, dark and creepy and smelling like yesterday's booze and suddenly she was sad and self-conscious and pissed off all at once, and she didn't want him to see where she was living.

Spot didn't question her, just pulled over to let her out. 

"Thanks," she said, stepping out of the car, holding her phone tight in one hand. 

"Hey, Pulitzer," she heard before she could close the door behind her. Katherine tilted her head down so she could see Spot through the window. He shrugged.

"You's alright."

With that, the door closed, and Spot drove off. 

 

~*~

 

_*HereQueerTiredAF has sent a picture*_

_LezBeHonest: what, and I say this from the bottom of my heart, the fuck?_

_HereQueerTiredAF: sry wrong chat_

_ApatheticRedhead: who else r u talkin to?_

_ApatheticRedhead: all ur friends r here_

_HereQueerTiredAF: meant 2 send 2 fam chat n clkd wrong 1_

_Princess: 1) Never butcher the English language like that again. 2) Why the hell are you sending that in any chat, let alone your family?_

_*ApatheticRedhead, LezBeHonest, RoseByAnotherName, and Scarecrow liked 'Princess: 1) Never butcher the English language like that again. 2) Why the hell are you sending that in any chat, let alone your family?'*_

_Cowboy: no we kno what this is_

_SmolSam: yeah it's legit_

_5oclockCharlie: live w/ Medda 2 years and you'd understand_

_*HereQueerTiredAF liked 'Cowboy: no we kno what this is'*_

_*HereQueerTiredAF liked 'SmolSam: yeah it's legit'*_

_*HereQueerTiredAF liked '5oclockCharlie: live w/ Medda 2 years and you'd understand'*_

_HereQueerTiredAF: see!!!_

_HereQueerTiredAF: aint crazy_

_Cowboy: eh_

_Princess: Debatable._

_LezBeHonest: that's a stretch_

_ApatheticRedhead: i call bullshit_

_SmolSam: now you're just lying_

_HereQueerTiredAF: D:_

_Spotty: nah u aint that crazy_

_HereQueerTiredAF: :D_

_Spotty: I love him but hes insane_

_HereQueerTiredAF: ???????????_

_Spotty: sry. wrong chat._

_HereQueerTiredAF: oh ok_

_HereQueerTiredAF: WAIT_

 

~*~

 

It was official.

Making out with Jack was her new favorite thing. 

His hand skated up her side as she kissed him, tugging his shirt to pull him closer, when there was a pounding on the door. "Mm," Katherine mumbled. "Door."

"Ignore it, they'll go away," he said.

"Jack!" There was a rattling as Smalls tried to open the door and the pounding only grew more insistent when she couldn't get it open. " _Oooh,_ door's aren't s'posed to be locked, Jackie! 'm tellin' Medda!" 

Groaning, Jack tore his mouth from Katherine's, grumbling something she couldn't hear about sisters while she sat up straight in order to make herself look presentable before he opened the door. 

Yanking open the door, Jack glared down at Smalls, who was smirking. " _What_?"

"Doors stay open when we have guests, 'member, Jack?" she asked with a shit-eating grin, looking between him and Katherine.

"Whaddaya want, Smalls?"

"Hmm," Smalls tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That's such a loaded question now that I have all this  _blackmail_ on you..."

Jack dropped his head against the doorframe. "I swear ta God, Samantha—"

"Ooh. Full name. Strike two,  _John_." Smalls beamed when Katherine couldn't stifle a soft snort. "I need a ride to the library, an' Race's with Spot."

"Then why didn't'cha go crashin' down his door?" Jack asked. "Since ya  _clearly_ don't gotta problem with it."

Smalls folded her arms. "Because they're somehow even grosser than you guys an' I'm a small child, you don't want to expose me to that, do you?"

Jack sighed loudly through his nose, and Katherine knew he'd lost. "Ain't diversity somethin' we're s'posed to be acceptin'?"

"Not when that diversity is sticking his tongue down my brother's throat." Smalls turned on her heel, calling over her shoulder. "I'll be ready to go in five minutes! Katherine can come if she wants!"

Jack groaned, rolling his eyes as he turned back to Katherine, who was trying with no avail to hide her own shit-eating grin. "Sorry, uh, I—uh, wanna come with...?"

"I'm sorry," Katherine's lips twitched in an effort to keep her laughter in. "What are you trying to say... John?"

His name came out just a little too high-pitched when she couldn't hold her laugh in any longer, and she rolled over on his bed when he threw a discarded pillow at her.

"No good in bein' the oldest an' gettin' ya own room when no one respects boundaries," Jack complained, dropping on the bed.

"You know..." Katherine finally stopped laughing, and sat up, leaning her arm on his shoulder. "I  _do_ have a whole empty house to myself for the week. If you want to come over." He gave her an odd look and she sat back. "What? Oh, come on, is this some weird, macho man, 'can't-handle-it-when-the-girl-makes-the-first-move' kind of thing? Because you have certainly said worse than that, honestly—"

Jack shook his head. "No, just—where're your parents?"

She shrugged. "Dad had some business in the city and Mom went with him."

"They went away Fourth'a July weekend?" Katherine couldn't understand why he was shocked by the situation, she'd told him before about how her father worked a lot.

"Yeah." Shrugging again, she pulled her arm away from him. "I spend most of my time in town, anyways, I barely notice. Hey, do you and the guys want to come over on the fourth? Chaya told me they do fireworks on the beach, we can watch from our deck."

Jack was still looking at her funny. "S'a holiday. They left ya alone on a holiday?"

 _Oh_ , she supposed that made sense for him to be confused over—Medda seemed the type to go all out, if Memorial Day was anything to go by. "Yeah, we don't really make a big deal over holidays," Katherine explained. "My and Lucy's birthday's when we were kids, but now really just Christmakkah."

"Christmakkah?"

"Dad's Jewish, Mom's Episcopalian, we just kinda roll Christmas and Hanukkah together. Christmakkah." Katherine gave a little 'jazz-hand' gesture at that before knocking Jack's shoulder with hers. "That usually gets a pity laugh, at least. Lucy and I were proud of that one," she teased when he didn't say anything.

He huffed a soft laugh. "S'just kinda... shitty of them."

Dropping her chin on his shoulder, she leaned into him. "Yeah," she agreed. It  _was_ shitty, but nothing Katherine wasn't used to. "Little harder now that Lucy's not around, but. It's fine. So, you guys want to come over?" she asked, changing the subject. "We have lots of room and Mom left way too much money for groceries."

Jack tilted his chin a little to look down at her, smiling. "Yeah, that'd be fun. You all gotta grill out there, or we need to bring one? We us'ally borrow Mayer's from the hotel."

"Yeah, bring it. The house didn't come with one, and it's not like Dad's a master chef or anything." Craning her neck, Katherine pecked his cheek before standing, tugging his hand. "Come on, before Smalls storms the room again."

Using her momentum against her, Jack pulled her back, kissing her properly, free hand threading through her braid, and Katherine forgot all about her parents and Smalls and barbecues and—

"Gross, get a room, guys."

—and she broke away, to see Race standing in Jack's doorway, shirtless and looking groggy, left arm crossed over his chest to scratch his back.

"We're in a room," Katherine pointed out at the same time Jack asked, "Wait, I thought you was with Spot?"

Race shook his head. "Nah, man, Spotty's workin'. I just woke up."

Katherine laughed as realization dawned on Jack and he tore past a bewildered Race, shouting, "Smalls!" 

  

~*~

 

"Last call for ice cream!" Medda called.

It was the best Fourth of July bash Katherine had ever been to. Mayer and Esther Jacobs, along with Mr. Jacobi, had brought more than enough food to feed a small army, and Medda had brought ice cream from the shop. Practically everyone she'd met had come to her house, and it looked like the entire town was at the beach. 

Down in the ocean, Albert and Joey were playing chicken with Spot and Race, at least three half-games of volleyball had been abandoned, Davey and Chaya were sitting  _awfully_ close on a shared blanket—there was a running bet on when one of them would ask the other out and who would make the first move—and Les and the twins were building an impressive sandcastle. 

"Hey, Smalls, get me some mint chocolate chip," Charlie said as the redhead started to pass her.

"What am I, ya freakin' lady-in-waitin'?" Smalls asked. "Get it yaself— _oof!_ "

Charlie had stuck her crutch out in front of Smalls, causing her to trip. "Hope ya like sand wit'cha ice cream!" she cackled, hauling herself up.

Katherine laughed as she considered her options at the ice cream stand.

"Can't decide what sounds good?" Sarah asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope. What sounds bad."

Sarah pointed her spoon at her. "You're wild, Pulitzer. I like that."

"And as you know, I'm always looking for your approval," Katherine said, finally choosing two flavors.

"Well then you won't get it on your ice cream tastes. That's disgusting."

"Good." Turning on her heel, Katherine went back to the blanket she was sharing with Jack.

"Okay," Jack said, sitting next to her on the blanket. "I think I gotcha beat this time. Chocolate fudge an' orange sherbet."

Katherine wrinkled her nose. "Oh, god, that does sound bad.  _But_ not as bad as butter pecan and green tea."

Visibly shuddering, he said, "Damn Pulitzer, how do ya do it? Pecan an' tea? Those shouldn't even be ice creams."

"It's not easy," she admitted. "You'll pretty much eat anything."

Rolling his shoulders tightly, Jack said, "Ya mighta got me this time, it just sounds nasty."

"You can admit defeat now," she singsonged. "You don't have to put yourself through this..."

Wrinkling his nose and shaking his head, Jack said, "Nope. Ya ain't gettin' me that easy. Switch, Pulitzer."

Katherine shrugged, handing him her bowl and taking his. Digging a big spoonful out, she toasted him with her plastic spoon before taking a bite. It wasn't the worst thing he'd subjected her to. In fact, it kind of tasted like those chocolate orange cremes her grandmother used to keep around her house.

"Oh, god, nope," Jack set down his bowl, raising his hands in surrender. "You win this round, Kath."

She cheered, throwing her hands up, laughing. "My winning streak continues!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, kicking her shin lightly. "Still got 'bout five weeks to cream ya, don't go gettin' cocky."

Katherine dropped her hands, furrowing her brow a little as his words hit her.

_Five weeks..._

"Ugh, I'm gonna grab a soda, get this shit taste outta my mouth," Jack said, nudging her. "Ya want anythin'? Kath?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine, thanks." She gave him a smile she hoped didn't look as forced as it felt.

It hadn't sunk in that they were here, halfway through the summer and in just a little over a month, she'd be leaving. And saying goodbyes. And leaving.

Race let out a whoop as the first fireworks started, causing cheers to go up in their group on the beachfront as Jack settled next to her, pressing his shoulder against hers.

Honestly, it was the oldest cliche in the book. Local boy, out-of-town girl, with only the summer together? It was straight out of a musical.

Only this story would actually end with the summer. No surprise reunions after school started again in the fall, just these twelve weeks of riding in his truck, winning tickets at the arcade, ice cream dates where they tried to outdo each other in worst combination, and trying desperately not to fall in love with the local boy.

Though, as she sat with Jack on a threadbare blanket as fireworks cracked and popped over them, Katherine knew she was still fighting a lost battle.

She stood up abruptly, kicking sand up as she did.

Jack looked up at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Or, not really. Or. I don't know. Can I talk to you? Up on the porch?" she asked in a rush.

"Uh, sure," he said slowly, standing with her.

Katherine suddenly realized didn't know what she would even say. Even if she knew, what would it even help? She was still leaving at the end of the summer, he was staying here. And how did she know Jack even felt similarly? 

Maybe if she just didn't say anything...

"Kath?" Jack asked, trying to catch her eye. "Everythin' alright?"

Shaking herself out of it, Katherine gave him a smile. "Yeah, sorry. I couldn't... find my phone. But it's okay, it's right here." She moved to sit back on the blanket but Jack stopped her.

"Hey, you sure?"

She nodded tightly. "Yeah. I just went a little crazy, too much sugar or something."

He looked like he was going to say something when Spot yelled, "Hey, Kelly! Move ya fat head, can't see the fireworks."

Katherine pulled Jack down with her as he kick—or attempted to kick, the ball barely glanced off the side of his foot—the volleyball at Spot. "Come on," she laughed. "We don't need another Charlie Brown Incident."

"Okay, that ain't fair. I didn't  _know_ he was gonna pull the football away."

"What else was he going to do?" she asked, shocked and laughing, just glad for the change of subject. "That's a classic, Jack."

He huffed. "Well, excuse me f'r thinkin' Spot might act bigger'n a cartoon character."

"You want him to act bigger than a cartoon character when he's barely taller than them?"

 

~*~

  

“Lookit that, you’s all freckled,” Jack said, tracing his finger over her shoulders. 

Katherine barely glanced back before answering. “Yeah, not all of us can tan, you know. Some of us just burn.” She looked disdainfully at his tanned forearms that had just gotten darker as the summer went on.

"Aw, I like 'em," he said, still tracing shapes she couldn't decipher.

She shook her head, going back to her book, smiling a little to herself. Jack had the afternoon off at Medda's, and had followed her to the beach, where she'd set up a little camp like her first day.

Katherine was working through  _The Grapes of Wrath_ —dry as dust, no pun intended, but her school had a ridiculous list of 'banned' books and damn if she wasn't going to prepare herself to fight all of them—while he sketched. Or he was supposed to be.

But it was warm and Jack's hand on her shoulder was soothing, and honestly, it wasn't like she had to read Steinbeck, so Katherine set aside the book and folded her arms, laying her head on them.

She closed her eyes, listening to the waves and the birds off in the distance, sighing contentedly.

"You know, I was thinkin'..."

"Thought I smelled smoke," she teased, eyes still closed.

He poked her shoulder. "I was  _thinkin_ '," he said again, louder, like she hadn't spoken. "I only got one more year left... an' there ain't no colleges 'round here..."

"Mm-hmm..."

"So I might be headed into the city, in just a li'l while."

Katherine lifted her head off her folded arms, rolling over on her back to look at him and his thinly-veiled nonchalance. "You're... talking about after the summer," she said lightly, not quite a question.

Jack shrugged. "Who's talkin'? I said I was thinkin'." His hand had fallen from her shoulder when she rolled over; now it was hovering by her hip, skimming over her waist. 

She sighed, propping her head up with one hand. Katherine didn't want to talk about it, about leaving. She didn't even like thinking about it. Wasn't thrilled about Jack thinking about it, either, it just made it more real.

But she wasn't going to say that. She couldn't.

Tugging his hand a little, Katherine leaned towards him. "How about instead of thinking," she said. "You kiss me?"

"Mm," Jack hummed, hand slipping under the hem of her shirt. "You's pretty smart, y'know?"

"No talking, just kissing." 

 

~*~

 

Katherine had barely been home an hour when someone knocked.

Furrowing her brow, she turned back towards the door. No one had been to her house since the Fourth—besides Jack, once or twice, when they took advantage of the empty house—so she had no idea who it could be.

Pulling open the door revealed Sarah, Chaya, Smalls, and Charlie.

"Uhm—"

"Damn, Katherine, I would've been nicer to you sooner if I knew  _this_ was your house," Sarah said, pushing her way in. It would have stung more if she hadn't learned that this was just how the other girl was.

And if she hadn't felt somewhat like she'd been ambushed.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You were literally here two weeks ago, Sarah."

"Yeah, but I just saw the outside. Inside's way cooler."

"Not so bad, this side of the tracks, huh?"

"Oh, definitely not." Sarah dropped on the couch, sprawling out immediately. "I may never leave."

"Hey, Kath!" Charlie grinned, bumping her head against Katherine's shoulder, a move she long ago realized was the younger girl's way of showing affection. "Medda sent over some ice cream from the shop."

"An' we got brownies from the cafe. Spot was gonna throw 'em out anyways," Smalls said, not towards Katherine, but the ceiling, as her neck was craned back, taking in the large room.

"Great..." Katherine said slowly, looking at Chaya. "Uhm. What's happening?"

"We're hijacking your evening by forcing you to hang out with us. Is that okay?" She actually looked worried about them interrupting her evening, which Katherine quickly refuted.

"Yeah, of course! I was just going to watch  _The Office_ for the hundredth time, you guys are way better company."

"Good," Smalls said, popping her head up over the back of the couch. "I'm with Sarah, we're never leaving." 

Katherine laughed. "Mom and Dad will be thrilled. A new lump on the couch that talks back." Honestly, she welcomed the girls—as much as she played it off to Jack, the house  _was_ too big and empty without her parents or Lucy. 

Smalls slung a leg over the back of the couch. "You know it. Won't even know I'm here."

"With your big mouth?" Charlie asked, shoving Smalls' foot off the couch with her crutch. "Not a chance."

Half an hour later, snacks littered the coffee table, Elle was just getting into Harvard on screen, and Charlie had pressed a bottle of nail polish in Katherine's hand and and propped her foot in her lap.

Katherine swiped the brush over Charlie's pinkie toe, squeezing her foot a little. "Okay, next—" She froze, staring at Charlie's right leg. That ended at the knee. "Uhm..."

"Go on," Charlie challenged, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Say it."

Katherine shook her head. " _I can't,_ " she whispered, laughing. "I'm so sorry, Charlie, I didn't think—"

"Forget it, Kath," Charlie said cheerily, lifting her foot and wiggling her toes in Katherine's face. "It's act'ally nice ya forgot, 'stead'a starin' at it all the time."

Batting at her foot, Katherine wrinkled her nose. "Stop, you'll smudge all my hard work!"

Charlie laughed, lowering her foot back in Katherine's lap before flopping backwards so she was laying across Smalls' lap in and attempt to reach the popcorn on the other side of her. "Smalls, help a girl out," she whined, her fingers just out of grasp.

Smalls didn't move. "Nah, you almost got it." 

Elbowing her in the stomach, Charlie groaned. "You're killin' me, Smalls."

Without batting an eye, Smalls shoved the smaller girl off her lap, into the floor. "Like I haven't heard _that_ one before."

"You would _dare_ throw someone with _half a leg_ on the floor like that?" Charlie cried, her head popping up, grinning broadly.

"Still got one whole leg," Smalls countered, looking unfazed as she stretched out on the couch where Charlie previously was. "Not like you don't got freakishly strong upper body strength anyways."

Charlie grinned again, pulling herself up onto the coffee table across from them. "True, I  _am_ the arm-wrestlin' champ."

Katherine, who had sat up quickly to make sure Charlie hadn't been hurt, slowly settled back on the couch. She and Lucy had never gotten physical when they fought—they had always been far too good at using their words—but it made sense for Smalls and Charlie, she supposed, growing up with three boys in the house. "Is that why everyone calls you Smalls? The _Sandlot_?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's my last name. We watched it once, and it stuck."

"Your name is Samantha Smalls?" Katherine asked, remembering the other day in Jack's room.

"Yup." Smalls popped the 'p' in the word, face twisting.

Katherine tried hard, she really did, but a giggle slipped past her lips. "Oh, honey."

"Yeah. My parents hated me." The words were said lightly but her eyes were downcast.

Katherine didn't know the stories behind how Race, Charlie, Romeo, Smalls, or Jack, even, went to live with Medda, other than a few comments here and there Jack had told her, so she didn't really know what to say to that.

Rolling her neck a little, she said, "Well, if it makes you feel better, my middle name is Ethel." Katherine pulled an exaggerated face as Smalls laughed.

"Katherine Ethel? You parents never gave you a  _chance_."

"What are we talking about?" Sarah asked, passing out the ice cream before dropping in a chair, slinging her leg over the arm. Chaya sat across the room from her, sitting in a chair like a normal human.

"Unfortunate naming crimes committed by our parents," Smalls explained, helping Charlie back to the couch. "You now have Katherine Ethel to beat."

Sarah shook her head. "Sarah Ruth Jacobs. Nowhere  _near_ as bad as Ethel, but close." Katherine threw a tortilla chip at her.

Chaya shrugged. "Chaya Abigail. Sorry, Kath."

Katherine groaned, dropping her head back on the arm of the couch. "What about you, Charlie? Save me." 

Charlie shrugged. "Pretty basic—Charlotte Rae."

"Hey, you ever think if you'd been born a boy, your name would be Charles Ray? Like the journalist?" Smalls asked, nudging her with her foot.

Katherine shook her head. "Charles Ray wasn't a journalist, he was an artist. Charlie Rose was the journalist."

Chaya frowned. "I thought he was the chef."

"That's Daniel Rose," Sarah said.

"Wait, isn't there a Rose Daniels?" Charlie asked. "What'd she do?"

Smalls tilted her head. "She was either a photographer or a model? I think?"

"Who took that VJ Day picture?" Charlie asked. "Didn't the soldier die recently?"

"I think it was... Alfred... Something?" Chaya said, a little uncertainly.

"Pennywise?" Sarah suggested.

"I think you mean Pennyworth, who is Batman's butler," Katherine corrected. "Pennywise is the creepy-ass clown from _It_. Neither of whom was known for photography."

"Who am I thinking of?" Sarah asked, furrowing her brow.

Smalls shrugged. "I dunno— _third base_!" she yelled with Charlie as the three older girls threw pillows at them. 

 

~*~

 

"Girls like you don't go for guys like me!"

"'Girls like me'—what does that mean?" Katherine had no idea how they got to where they were, in Medda's backyard, screaming at each other. 

She had had only a couple days to prepare for Jack's birthday—Charlie had told her about the party, thinking she already knew Jack's birthday was the twenty-first—but she thought she'd done a pretty good job for a last-minute gift.

But when Jack opened it, his face fell and, after, told her that he couldn't take the camera she'd gotten to replace his that he'd been complaining about getting too old. Billy knew cameras better than anyone and helped her find a good one.

_"Jack, really, it's fine..."_

_"No, I can't take it, Kath."_

_"You said you needed a new one—"_

_"So ya just_ bought _me one? Ya don't get how crazy this is?"_

She didn't get it, and now they were yelling, up in each other's faces.

"End'a the summer comes an' you's gonna be gone, back to ya rich friends, laughin' 'bout the nobody ya managed ta string 'long all summer," he seethed. 

Katherine threw her hands up in the air. "Where the— _fuck_ , Jack, who do you think I am?"

"Why don't'cha talk 'bout what happens afta' ya leave? Huh? Don't wanna talk 'bout what that means?"

That stopped her. How did they go from birthday present to her leaving? "What do you—"

"Don't screw with me Pulitzer—"

"—Jack, just listen—"

"—I know ya ain't stupid—"

"—If you'd take a breath—"

"—You know 'zactly what I mean—"

" _I don't want to think about leaving_!" Katherine burst out. They stood, nose-to-nose, and she took a breath and a step back. "I don't talk about what will happen after summer because I don't like thinking about leaving. It's right there, I know it's going to happen, but I haven't... accepted it yet. I can't imagine in a few weeks I won't be here, no Medda's no beach, no  _you_ , because I l—" Katherine stopped, taking another breath, scrubbing her face with her hands. This wasn't how she wanted to say that.

"I love it here too much," she said instead, wiping at her eyes. Dammit, she was crying? Katherine shook her head; now that they weren't screaming, she could think a little clearer. "I'm sorry. About the camera. I didn't think about it, I just. I wanted to get you something nice and your pictures are so beautiful, I thought, imagine what they'd be like if you had an amazing camera to help—but it doesn't matter. I should've been thinking. It was stupid."

She finally looked up at Jack, who sighed through his nose. "I mean... ain't all  _that_ stupid, not the gift. S'just. I don't like not knowin', ya know? 'Bout us. 'Cause, uh, I—"

"I know," she said, as gently as she could without shutting him down. Katherine hadn't even been able to say it to herself, she didn't know how to say it to him. "I don't like knowing either. But... I don't know what to do."

He shook his head. "I dunno either."

They stood there, in Medda's backyard, looking at each other as the moon rose above them. 

  

~*~

 

"Is Lucy ever gonna come visit?" he asked as they sat in Medda's shop, him locking up, her with a book Chaya had recommended.

It had been a few days since his birthday and the only thing they had talked about since his birthday was to not talk about after the summer and just enjoy the time they had left. So far, it was mostly working, even though they still got tense whenever they discussed the future beyond what they were doing that night.

Katherine was so engrossed in the novel, she didn't catch what he'd asked. "Hm?"

Jack poked her with his broom. "Lucy. She gonna come out this summer?"

Her head snapped up. Jack was a joker, sure, but he wasn't cruel.

He didn't notice the hard, shocked look she was giving him, as he was crouching to sweep sand and dirt into a dustpan. "Be kinda cool to meet her, s'all," he continued.

Clearing her throat uncomfortably, Katherine blinked quickly before she said, "Uhm. Lucy's dead, Jack."

The broom clattered out of his hand as his right foot slipped out from under him. "Shit, really?" he asked, twisting around to look at her.

"Would I joke about that?" she asked weakly. "You didn't know?"

Jack shook his head quickly. "Ya never said. I just—thought she was workin', or takin' summer classes or somethin'."

"I never said?" Katherine furrowed her brow, trying to recall, but they had over two months of conversations, she couldn't possibly remember all of them. "Oh."

"Shit, 'm sorry, Kath. I didn't know—"

"No, it's fine," she assured quickly. "I never told you, apparently, how could you guess that?"

He looked uncomfortable, opening and closing his mouth a couple times before asking, "Can I ask—?"

"Car wreck. Less than a year ago. Three weeks into her senior year," Katherine answered automatically, not elaborating and praying he wouldn't ask her to.

He didn't. They were quiet for several moments, Jack still holding the broom and Katherine holding her book. She worried the cover while she waited for him to say something. 

When he finally did, it was: "C'mon, I wanna show ya somethin'."

That was an odd reaction, she supposed, but Katherine was glad to not have to talk about her sister. She nodded, following him out the door to his truck. 

Climbing in, she slid to the center seat, something she normally only did when she, Jack, and Crutchie rode together in the cab. He didn't comment on her seating arrangement, just started the engine and shifted gears, pulling out of the parking lot behind Medda's.

The shops and houses and beach faded away as they drove further and further inland. At one point, Katherine thought that he might be taking her to the overlook Spot had told her about, out on the edge of town. But they past the turn, driving impossibly further to the outskirts of town.

She sat up as the truck rumbled to a stop, peering through the headlights and the dim moonlight, trying to figure out where they were. "Where are we?"

Jack shut the truck off, opening the door, and sliding out instead of answering her. Katherine followed him, still squinting. "Is that...? Are we in a train yard?"

"Yeah, s'on the edge'a the edge of town. We get couple'a trains through here, but these're all the abandoned cars. C'mon," he said, tugging her hand. "This one's my favorite."

His "favorite" looked like a classic, red boxcar, like from a book she read as a kid. Jack led her to the ladder on the side, climbing to the top. He didn't say anything as he gave her a hand up or as he settled on the edge, legs dangling over. Katherine sat next to him, unsure exactly what he was showing her.

After a couple minutes, sitting on the train car roof, Jack finally said, "I was the first at Medda's, y'know. Been in an' outta foster homes after my mom an' dad died—sick, an' then car wreck—an' Medda was the first who didn't try an' push me into anythin'. I got mad, she got me a counselor. I wanted to do art, she helped me get supplies. But I just never... Somethin' felt wrong. Wandered off one day 'til I found this place. Started comin' out all the time, imaginin' what it'd be like to ride off somewheres else on this train. 

"One night, I stayed out too long, an' Medda had the whole town lookin' for me. I wandered back into town, Mr. Jacobi found me an' took me back ta Medda's. She saw me an' she just. Gave me this big hug an' I knew. She was different. Started not needin' the runaway escape so much. I told her 'bout this place afta' few months, so she didn't hafta wonder, but no one's come out here. Not with me, anyways."

He was leaning back on his hands, not even looking at her really as he said all that. Katherine didn't know what to say—though, she supposed, that was the point. There wasn't anything she could say to that, like he hadn't known what to say after she told him about Lucy.

Leaning against him carefully, she asked lightly, "So where's this train taking us?"

Jack considered that. "Out West. I read about Santa Fe once, thought it sounded pretty cool. Ride horses, work on.. I dunno, the railroad tracks or something."

"So are we 19th century cowboys in this dream or...?"

He laughed a little. "Can't picture me, ridin' in style?"

Katherine shrugged. "You'd look pretty sexy with a cowboy hat, I guess."

"You  _guess_?" he said, mock-offended, poking her side. 

"No, stop!" she giggled, squirming away as best she could. "You would make a very handsome cowboy, Jack," she added after she caught her breath.

"Thank ya, I like ta think so," he said, tossing his head a little.

Elbowing him, Katherine scooted closer to him again. "Thanks. For showing me this."

Jack nudged her back. "No problem."

 

~*~

 

Katherine found herself standing outside Jack's door once again, slipping her arms through a stolen flannel button down and flipping her hair from under the collar.

This time, however, she wasn't surprised to turn around and see Spot, shirtless, sneaking out of Race and Romeo's room.

Honestly, at this point she'd mostly lost track of how many times they'd been in this same situation.

"Kathy."

"Spot."

She laughed softly. "We have to stop meeting like this, Sean, people will talk," she teased as they tracked the now-familiar path downstairs.

"Eh, you's not my type, Kath, no one'd buy it."

"Oh, so you liking me is more unbelievable than me liking you?"

"What's not to like?"

"Well, first of all, I like guys who can look me in the _eye_ —" Katherine had turned around to deliver what was supposed to be a staggering blow, but tripped, missing the last step and stepping solidly on the squeaky floorboard right outside the open door to Smalls and Crutchie's room.

They froze in horror, waiting to see if either girl would wake and rat them out. After a long, tense minute, Katherine peeked around the door, sighing in relief when they both were still fast asleep.

"We're clear," she said in a muted whisper, carefully shifting her weight so when she picked up foot back up it wouldn't creak again.

"Way t'  _go_ , Kath'rine," Spot muttered, effortlessly dodging the floorboard. "Gonna blow our cover."

She shoved his shoulder. "Well if you weren't distracting me—!"

"Good morning, Sean. Katherine." 

They froze before slowly turning to see Medda sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee with a knowing look on her face.

Katherine felt her eyes go wide, pulling Jack's shirt tighter over her thin tank top while Spot suddenly seemed interested in something around his feet.

"Let's see," Medda continued, standing and crossing to the other side of the kitchen. "This is the, what? Fifth time for Katherine, seventh for you, Sean? Just this month, too. Now, I've already had the talk with Jack and Anthony—"

Spot made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, tips of his ears turning bright red. Katherine was sure she wasn't any better.

"—and I'm sure the two of you are smart enough to be safe about... whatever it is you're doing. So," she turned around, a cheery smile on her face. "Eggs? Pancakes?" Without waiting for an answer, Medda moved towards the coffeepot on the other side of the kitchen.

"This is the most mortified I've ever been," Katherine squeaked, burying her face in her hands. 

"This is it," Spot agreed, nodding. "This is what death feels like."

 

~*~

 

"Jack..." Katherine said warningly, hands coming up for the thirteenth time to remove her blindfold. "You know I don't do surprises."

He pulled her hands away, holding them in his. "C'mon, ya gonna like this one, I promise."

She dug her heels in, pouting. "Can I get a  _hint_?"

Katherine could hear Jack laugh, then felt him lean forward, kissing her quickly before saying, "You're gonna like this one, all 'm sayin'. So c'mon," he said, tugging her hands, and she grudgingly followed him.

It was the day before she was supposed to leave, and Jack had kidnapped her for a surprise he claimed she'd love. Considering that all she'd planned on doing was packing and trying not to cry, Katherine figured it probably would be something she'd much prefer doing, but she hated not knowing.

She could hear the ocean and felt when concrete changed to sand under her shoes, so she knew they were at the beach _,_ but the reason why remained to be seen.

" _Jack_..." 

"Alright, alright, hold ya horses." Jack dropped her hands and moved so he was standing behind her and removing her blindfold.

"SURPRISE!" Only Race yelled, since he was the only one who was turned around to see them.

Chaya smacked Albert's shoulder. "Ay! What'chu hittin' me f'r?" he said indignantly.

"You were our  _lookout_ ," she said pointedly. "You couldn't give us a heads up?"

"I'll have you know I was very busy."

"Doing what?" Chaya demanded.

Al looked down at his phone, swiping the screen. "Catchin'... that Pidgey."

"Uh, guys?" Jack said, waving his hand. "We're here."

Katherine laughed at the second, half-hearted "Surprise!"

"Oh my god, what is all this?"

Charlie grinned as she approached her, nudging her with an elbow. "It's ya goin' away party! It'd look better if Al wasn't so lazy."

"I did the exact amount'a effort that was expected'a me," Albert said defensively.

Katherine shook her head. "No, it looks great! Thank you so much, guys, I love it."

"Ha!" Sarah yelled triumphantly as music spilled through the speakers she'd set up. "Now it's a party!"

It felt like a smaller-scale version of the Fourth of July barbecue, but with more s'mores and chips and trashy music pop rather than burgers and hotdogs. 

It was perfect.

She stood in front of the tiny card table she recognized from Medda's house, nearly buckling under the weight of the snacks. She was in the middle of deciding what she wanted when Sarah walked up to her.

"Hey, so." Sarah twisted her face a little. "I'm sorry I was kind of a bitch to you back when we met."

Katherine waved a hand. "Oh my god, water under the bridge, Sarah, it's fine. And, amazingly enough, you've become my best—oh, god, I'm trying not to get mushy, I might cry." She had vowed to herself that she wouldn't cry at her going away party, but she was already failing.

"Well as long as we both are," Sarah said, chuckling weakly. "For the record, you... mine, too."

"Oh my god we're such messes, just hug me," Katherine said, laughing. She had to raise up a little to hug Sarah around the shoulders—honestly, how the hell were the Jacobs so tall?—and squeeze her. 

Pulling away, Sarah looked at her seriously. "Don't you go forgetting us when you get back to the city or I'll come kick your ass. Got it?"

Katherine saluted her mockingly. "Got it. And you definitely don't have to worry about me forgetting any of this."

Sarah squeezed her shoulder and stepped aside to let her load up on s'mores supplies.

Ready to stuff her face with too many marshmallows, Katherine sat, folding her legs under her and balancing a plate on her knees, in front of the fire. Before she could skewer one, though, Spot came up to her, settling next to her.

"Spot," she said simply, setting her skewer aside for a moment.

"Kathy."

She laughed. "I'm going to miss our talks, Spot. Simple, heartfelt, monosyllabic." 

"'Kathy's two syllables," Spot pointed out.

"You're right," she conceded. 

"An' you's... not the worst person I ever met," he said decidedly.

Katherine pressed her hand to her heart, pretending to tear up. "Spot, that's the nicest thing anyone who's ever helped me sneak out of a house has _ever_ said to me."

Spot knocked her shoulder with his. "Shaddup. I ain't good with goodbyes."

She pushed him back. "You know what? Me neither. So let's not, okay?"

He nodded before gruffly gave her a one-armed hug before standing and walking away abruptly.

Laughing at his retreating back, Katherine turned when someone tapped her left shoulder. She was halfway turned around before she realized no one was there and she turned back to roll her eyes at Race, who was grinning.

"Gotcha."

"Tony, you're sixteen. Are you ever going to grow up?" she teased.

"Nope. Peter Pan, baby." He hugged her tight before she could say anything else. "Gonna miss ya, Red."

She grasped his shoulders when he pulled away. "Race. Every time I see a tacky meme, I will think of you."

He squeezed the hand on his right shoulder. "That's literally all I could ask f'r," he said solemnly. 

Charlie came up behind Race, poking him with her crutch. "Beat it, Higgins, it's my turn."

He scoffed indignantly, turning to look at her. "You gotta lotta sass f'r someone so small."

"Yeah, yeah, flatterin' me won't get'cha more time. C'mon, I wanna talk to Kath." She jerked her head, tossing her hair.

Rolling his eyes and sighing heavily, Race heaved himself up. "Little sisters're a  _pain_ ," he said to Katherine, who just shook her head.

"Don't look at me, I was the little sister."

Waving a hand, Race left them to go talk to Spot as Charlie dropped one crutch, balancing herself with a hand on Katherine's shoulder to lower herself on the sand next to her. "Lucky you," she said, grinning. "S'gonna take me f'rever to get up again on this sand, so you get a nice, long goodbye from Crutchie."

"Oh, Charlie." Katherine slung her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "I think I'll miss you most of all."

"More than Jackie?"

She considered that. "It'll be close."

Charlie grinned. "I can work with that."

 

~*~

 

Their rental car was packed up and her parents were sitting in the front seat, waiting for her.

Katherine didn't know what to say. She'd had all summer to figure out how to say goodbye, but now that she was faced with it, she was coming up empty.

Jack didn't seem to be much better off, though, as he shuffled his feet against the porch.

"I don't know what to say," she finally said, laughing humorlessly. "Goodbye feels like an ending, and I don't want... this to be an ending, but I can't feel like it is, and—"

Cutting her off, a little impulsively, it felt, Jack pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him, blinking hard against her tears as she hid her face in his shoulder.

"Medda said ya always gotta place if you come back," he said, voice gruff. "Maybe hafta kick Smalls to the couch, but that's aight. So, ya know. If ya ever headed back—"

"You'll be the first to know," Katherine agreed. The horn beeped, short and impatient, and she squeezed Jack tighter a moment before letting go.

"Remember that talk we never had? Kind of wished we'd had it," she admitted.

He shrugged. "We'll figure it out. An' it ain't like we won't talk. Can't get outta the group chat at this point, s'like the Mafia."

She snorted softly. "Complete with a crazy Italian leader."

They looked at each other, teary—at least Katherine was, she couldn't tell if Jack was—before both laughing a little.

"Oh, here," Jack handed her a small package. "Ain't much, but. Somethin' for the ride home."

She took it in one hand, scrubbing under her eye with the other. "I have something for you, too. And I learned my lesson, it's homemade, so. You have to live with that, because I don't know how to do homemade." She handed him her gift. 

Shaking it jokingly, he asked, "Can I open it now?"

Katherine scrunched up her nose. "You _can_ , but I'd rather you didn't, I can't live with the shame."

Jack laughed. "Okay, I'll wait til ya ain't here."

"Thank you, save my dignity." She tried to laugh, but it got stuck in her throat. Rolling her eyes up, she wiped away another stupid tear that rolled down her cheek. "Dignity's overrated, apparently," Katherine sighed, looking at him, that stupid, wonderful, impossible boy, that she fell in love with and all she could do was tell him.

Shrugging a shoulder, she did. "I love you."

Smiling brightly, he ducked his head a bit before looking back up at her. "I love ya too." Taking a step forward, Jack started to lean towards her, but stopped abruptly. "I can tell ya dad's watchin' me in the rearview mirror, an' I don't know whether or not it's safe to kiss ya."

"He can deal." Katherine hooked her arm around his neck, pulling him to her. This kiss—she refused to think of it as their 'last' kiss—felt like their first kiss and, for a moment, she felt like they were back at Medda's and they were just beginning again—

Her father honked the horn again, longer and more insistent, and Katherine broke away, just enough to lean her head against his jaw. Jack smoothed his hand down her back, holding her to him.

She needed to say something, but her voice had stopped working, her throat tight. Katherine sucked in a deep breath before kissing his cheek quickly and turning away, opening the backseat door and sliding in. 

"Are you ready?" her mother asked, so gently Katherine almost started crying again.

"Yeah," she said, nodding, her voice tight and raspy.

The car pulled away from the house, and Katherine turned in her seat to look back. Jack was still there, watching the car pull away. She raised her hand in a wave. He waved back, and she watched until she could no longer see him.

She waited until they were about an hour out of town before opening Jack's present. It was a plain covered photo album. 

Keeping her head down—she knew her eyes were still glassy and didn't want her mother's awkward attempts to make it right just yet—Katherine flipped open the book. 

It was full of pictures. Sketches, really, but beautiful.

Her, Chaya, and Davey at the library, heads bent low over separate books.

Her profile, eyes sharp, even on paper, as she faced the skee ball machine.

Her hair falling over her face as she sprawled, facedown, on his bed.

Jack had clearly had some help putting the book together—glittery stickers, clearly from Charlie, little quotes from books they'd read over the summer from Chaya. Katherine pressed the back of her hand to her mouth at Race's caption under her sliding into home:  _me, tryin to achieve my dreams._

Wiping at the corners of her eyes, Katherine picked up her phone, typing quickly.

_Kath <3: Fuck you Kelly, I'm crying._

_Jack <3: happy cry or sad cry?_

_Kath <3: A little of both, honestly._

_Kath <3: I miss it there already._

 

~*~

 

Senior year passed normally—a let down from everything movies led her to believe, if Katherine was honest.

She wrote for the school paper, she argued with her English teacher about the reading list, she applied to college, she prepared for graduation, she... lived her life.

She also talked to Jack. He kept her updated on the boys and Sarah and Chaya (who Davey had  _finally_ asked out) and rehearsals for the school play he was stage-managing, and sent her pictures of their fish—who they'd finally named Ponyboy—he'd managed to keep alive. Katherine stressed about her article deadlines, made several accusatory claims that Darcy and Billy were far worse than Spot and Race could ever be, and even broke down and called him once or twice when her parents' fighting got too loud again. 

They didn't say...  _it_ , again, and they didn't talk about how they'd never really talked about what they were. Or how they weren't dating anyone now. 

Katherine couldn't deny that it was weird, without the friends she made over the summer. 

She was still part of the group chat, yelled at Race for stupid memes he subjected them all too, kept up with the girls, even talked to Spot one night when Race was cheering at an away game and needed someone to talk to.

She missed them, missed their booth at Jacobi's after baseball games, missed... the beach.

Valentine's Day came and went with a cake from Billy, Darcy, and Clara, all-out party that was more for her parents' friends than for her, a hand drawn card from Jack, and a hard seat in the DMV as she waited to get her license. 

The end of the year rolled around, she walked across the stage for her diploma, fielded dozens of texts from Medda and the boys and Jack, and got drunk on stolen vodka with Clara.

Darcy and Billy tried to convince her to join them in Rome, and Clara was going to Paris, and Katherine appreciated them trying to cheer her up, but she had other plans.

Two days after her graduation, Katherine packed her bags, rented a car, and started driving.

The traffic thinned and the skylines became shorter and more spread out the longer she drove, all but disappearing about an hour outside the city. With the window rolled down, Katherine felt the wind pick up, shift, so that she could smell the salt and the sea, and she smiled.

Another hour or so, and she was pulling onto Main Street, just like she had a year ago.

Only this time, she drank in the familiar sights, the shelter, the library, Jacobi's Deli, Medda's ice cream store, all blending together as she drove past.

Katherine only vaguely remembered where the high school was—she thought Jack  _maybe_ passed it quickly on one of their drives through town—but she managed to find her way into the parking lot, pulling the car into the parking lot, shutting the engine off.

The silence was deafening a long moment before the sounds of the ocean, a far-off train whistle, and the pounding of her own heart in her chest finally filtered through.

Then the bell rang, and Katherine pushed the door open, stepping out of the car, searching the crowd. She knew Jack and Spot still had another week before graduation, so he had to be somewhere.

A moment later, she saw him and Charlie come out the front doors, Smalls just behind them. Katherine straightened, craning her neck, trying to catch someone's eye.

Charlie saw her first, and Katherine gave her a little wave. Breaking into a grin, she nudged Jack with an elbow, jerking her head towards Katherine.

Jack furrowed his brow before turning his head slowly, eyes scanning the parking lot before landing on Katherine.

She may have raised her hand in a wave, but she couldn't be sure because everything was moving in slow-motion and all she could see was how his eyes widened, just a little, in shock

And then he broke into a wide, beaming grin.

**Author's Note:**

> yes, Katherine's birthday is Valentine's Day, because I think it's cute, and Jack's birthday is July 21, because I think I'm funny XD
> 
> random historical tidbit no one cares about—I made Kate an Episcopalian because, historically, Joseph and Kate were married in an Episcopal ceremony! and Joseph Pulitzer was of Jewish descent, I have no idea how they raised their kids, though, I didn't look that hard.
> 
> In case you were wondering:  
> Cowboy—Jack  
> Scarecrow—Davey (he’s got a brain, ha ha)  
> 5oclockCharlie—Crutchie  
> SmolSam—Smalls  
> HereQueerTiredAF—Race  
> Spotty—Spot  
> LezBeHonest—Sarah  
> ApatheticRedhead—Albert  
> RoseByAnotherName—Chaya (an inside joke, go read [Claire's amazing fic By Any Other Name, where I stole Chaya from because Claire is amazing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14393478/chapters/33238110))
> 
> piano man to return shortly!!
> 
> say hi to me on tumblr!! I've been MIA lately, but (work/school permitting) I'm back!!! @wordshakerofgallifrey!!
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts!!
> 
> xx


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